Growing Pains (1985)

Name: Growing Pains
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 6.6
Cast: Alan Thicke, Joanna Kerns, Kirk Cameron, Tracey Gold, Jeremy Miller

Comedy

Fatherhood has taken on a whole new meaning for Jason Seaver, who has assumed the chores of cooking, cleaning and minding the kids so that his wife, Maggie, can pursue a career in journalism after spending 15 years as a housewife.

IMDb rating: 6.6 (17,985 votes)
Episode average: 7.0 ↑ +0.4 vs IMDb
Seasons: 7
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

Browse shows by rating shape → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 7 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1985)

7.27 avg 23 episodes 7.6 → 7.4 25 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
0	Unaired Pilot	7.6	64
1	Pilot	7.1	168
2	Springsteen	7.2	129
3	Jealousy	7.2	110
4	Carol's Article	7.3	104
5	Superdad	7.3	107
6	Mike's Madonna Story	7.5	126
7	Weekend Fantasy	7.4	103
8	Slice of Life	7.2	91
9	Carol's Crush	7.2	95
10	Dirt Bike	7.3	102
11	Standardized Test	7.4	93
12	A Christmas Story	7.1	106
13	The Love Song of M. Aaron Seaver	7.1	92
14	First Blood	7.0	102
15	Slice of Life II	7.1	89
16	The Seavers vs. the Cleavers	7.3	97
17	Charity Begins at Home	7.5	88
18	Reputation	8.0	99
19	The Anniversary That Never Was	7.1	87
20	Be a Man	7.0	92
21	Career Decision	6.8	85
22	Extra Lap	7.4	90

Season 2 (1986)

7.32 avg 22 episodes 7.3 → 7.1 25 min avg

Mid-peak

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Jason and the Cruisers	7.3	98
2	Fast Times at Dewey High	7.6	92
3	Long Day's Journey Into Night	7.6	76
4	Call Me	7.4	75
5	Employee of the Month	7.4	80
6	Dream Lover	7.4	78
7	Do You Believe in Magic?	7.6	79
8	Jason's Rib	7.2	69
9	The Kid	8.0	98
10	The Breakfast Club	7.2	77
11	Choices	7.0	70
12	Higher Education	7.1	80
13	Some Enchanted Evening	7.3	85
14	Thank You, Willie Nelson	7.1	63
15	Thank God It's Friday	7.9	92
16	My Brother, Myself	7.3	69
17	Jimmy Durante Died for Your Sins	7.1	74
18	Carnival	6.8	68
19	The Awful Truth	7.1	69
20	Born Free	7.0	71
21	The Long Goodbye	7.5	71
22	Confidentially Yours	7.1	70

Season 3 (1987)

7.07 avg 26 episodes 7.2 → 7.4 25 min avg

Rebound

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Aloha: Part 1	7.2	100
2	Aloha: Part 2	7.2	80
3	Taking Care of Business	6.7	69
4	Not Necessarily the News	7.0	63
5	Michaelgate	7.2	65
6	Big Brother's Not Watching	6.9	72
7	A Star Is Born	7.4	70
8	Gone But Not Forgotten	6.9	68
9	Who's Zoomin' Who?	7.0	94
10	This Is Your Life	7.5	67
11	Broadway Bound	7.1	72
12	The Scarlet Letter	7.2	61
13	A Reason to Live	7.8	80
14	Nasty Habits	7.2	70
15	The Marrying Kind	7.0	66
16	State of the Union	6.7	61
17	The Mom Who Knew Too Much	6.8	65
18	Great Expectations	7.2	69
19	Dance Fever: Part 1	7.5	74
20	Dance Fever: Part 2	7.9	75
21	Bringing Up Baby	6.7	62
22	The Obscure Objects of Our Desire: Part 1	6.0	67
23	The Obscure Objects of Our Desire: Part 2	6.0	64
24	How the West Was Won: Part 1	7.2	82
25	How the West Was Won: Part 2	7.0	81
26	Graduation Day	7.4	65

Season 4 (1988)

7.08 avg 22 episodes 7.6 → 6.7 25 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Fool for Love	7.6	84
2	Birth of a Seaver	7.1	73
3	Family Ties: Part 1	7.1	66
4	Family Ties: Part 2	7.1	67
5	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?	6.8	69
6	Homecoming Queen	6.9	70
7	Nude Photos	6.7	75
8	Ben's First Kiss	6.8	71
9	The Nanny	7.3	59
10	Mandingo	7.4	66
11	In Carol We Trust	7.6	74
12	Mom of the Year	6.7	59
13	Semper Fidelis	8.0	101
14	Feet of Clay	7.0	94
15	Anniversary from Hell	6.6	69
16	Fortunate Son	7.1	66
17	Double Standard	6.8	58
18	The Recruiter	7.0	67
19	Show Ninety: Who Knew?	6.7	61
20	Second Chance	8.1	115
21	The Looooove Boat: Part 1	6.6	62
22	The Looooove Boat: Part 2	6.7	65

Season 5 (1989)

6.96 avg 26 episodes 7.1 → 6.8 24 min avg

Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Anger with Love	7.1	66
2	Mike and Julie's Wedding	6.8	59
3	Carol Meets the Real World	6.9	62
4	Fish Bait	6.9	57
5	Teach Me	6.9	54
6	Carol's Papers	7.2	56
7	Coughing Boy	6.8	65
8	The New Deal: Part 1	7.0	57
9	The New Deal: Part 2	7.0	57
10	Paper Route	7.1	56
11	Five Grand	7.2	62
12	Carol's Promotion	6.9	56
13	Ben and Mike's Excellent Adventure	7.7	77
14	The Triangle	6.8	56
15	The Return of the Triangle	7.0	56
16	The Home Show	6.8	63
17	Jason vs. Maggie	6.5	57
18	Mike, Kate and Julie	7.4	61
19	Mike, the Teacher	7.4	60
20	Carol in Jail	6.9	57
21	Future Shock	6.7	61
22	Cheating	6.7	57
23	Mike the Director	6.6	57
24	Weekend at Mike's	6.8	59
25	Ben's Movie	7.0	66
26	Where There's a Will	6.8	56

Season 6 (1990)

6.70 avg 24 episodes 7.4 → 6.5 24 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 6 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Mike's Choice	7.4	70
2	Midnight Cowboy	6.6	59
3	Roommates	6.7	54
4	Daddy Mike	6.4	63
5	Ben's Sure Thing	6.6	64
6	Jason Flirts, Maggie Hurts	6.7	55
7	Happy Halloween: Part 1	6.8	76
8	Happy Halloween: Part 2	6.6	77
9	Let's Go Europe: Part 1	6.8	63
10	Let's Go Europe: Part 2	6.7	59
11	Let's Go Europe: Part 3	6.8	58
12	Divorce Story	6.2	63
13	The World According to Chrissy	6.1	63
14	How Could I Leave Her Behind?	6.9	59
15	Like Father, Like Son	6.4	57
16	Ben's Rap Group	6.7	57
17	Eddie, We Hardly Knew Ye	7.6	61
18	Maggie Seaver's: The Meaning of Life	6.6	53
19	All the World's a Stage	7.0	49
20	Not with My Carol You Don't	5.9	69
21	Meet the Seavers	7.2	82
22	Carol's Carnival	6.9	60
23	Home Schooling	6.8	54
24	Viva Las Vegas	6.5	58

Season 7 (1991)

6.68 avg 24 episodes 7.0 → 7.0 24 min avg

Season 7 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Back to School	7.0	265
2	Stop, Luke and Listen	7.1	249
3	In vino veritas	7.3	240
4	Paper Tigers	6.1	233
5	The Young and the Homeless	6.8	242
6	Jason Sings the Blues	6.6	233
7	The Kid's Still Got It	6.4	234
8	There Must Be a Pony	7.0	238
9	The Big Fix	6.6	239
10	Home Malone	6.8	237
11	Bad Day Cafe	6.9	239
12	B=MC2	6.6	237
13	It's Not Easy Being Green	6.4	237
14	The Call of the Wild	6.4	240
15	Honest Abe	6.7	241
16	Vicious Cycle	6.5	235
17	Menage a Luke	7.1	248
18	The Five Fingers of Ben	6.6	242
19	Don't Go Changin'	6.8	248
20	The Truck Stops Here	6.9	249
21	Maggie's Brilliant Career	6.1	242
22	The Wrath of Con Ed	5.9	84
23	The Last Picture Show: Part 1	6.6	94
24	The Last Picture Show: Part 2	7.0	95